guilt

Meaning: Guilt is a self-conscious moral emotion. A person judges a specific act as breaking internalized standards or harming someone, and the discomfort usually motivates apology or repair. In Freud's model, the superego (internalized parental and social rules) punishes the ego with guilt when behavior, or even impulses, violate those rules. In Erikson's theory, stage 3 (roughly ages 3–6) is initiative versus guilt: children encouraged to plan and act gain initiative, while harshly criticized children may feel guilty about their own plans and desires.

On the MCAT: Expect a vignette of a preschooler who stops starting games after being scolded (stage 3), or a question asking which part of the personality produces guilt (the superego, not the id). Emotion passages may ask you to separate guilt from shame. Guilt is a self-conscious emotion, not one of Ekman's six basic emotions.

Common confusion: Guilt is not shame. Guilt focuses on a behavior ("I did something bad") and tends to push toward repair. Shame focuses on the whole self ("I am bad") and tends to push toward hiding or withdrawal. Also do not swap stage 3 (initiative versus guilt) with stage 4 (industry versus inferiority).